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Bangladesh chose to bat v Zimbabwe
Bangladesh won the toss and batted first in their first one-day international for seven months. Mehidy Hasan, who was left out of the Test squad, returned to Bangladesh’s white-ball playing XI, as did Mahmudullah. Mohammad Saifuddin and Mustafizur Rahman were also included.
Zimbabwe, likewise, have not played an ODI since their ill-fated trip to Ireland in July last year, a tour which coincided with their suspension from ICC full membership and a couple of months of boardroom chaos. There have been a couple of changes in personnel for them in the interim, with Chamu Chibhabha returning to the one-day side after an absence of 19 months and taking the helm as captain.
With Craig Ervine absent through illness, having picked up the flu, and Sean Williams – who missed the one-off Test to be present for the birth of his daughter – having only just arrived in Bangladesh to join the tour, Zimbabwe offered a debut to 19-year-old all-round prodigy Wesley Madhevere, who performed well at the recent Under-19 World Cup. Zimbabwe’s missing players meant that Stuart Matsikenyeri, who is the team’s batting coach, was listed as a substitute fielder on Zimbabwe’s team sheet.
Sylhet has not hosted an ODI since December 2018, and the pitch, with a good covering of grass, should favour the batsmen. There are a couple of cracks in it, however, and it could well slow up a little under lights later on. Bangladesh may also have a little dew to deal with when they take the field later.
Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal 2 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 3 Liton Das, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mohammad Mithun, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mehidy Hasan, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 11 Mustafizur Rahman
Zimbabwe: 1 Chamu Chibhabha (capt), 2 Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, 3 Wesley Madhevere, 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Regis Chakabva, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 8 Tinontenda Mutombodzi, 9 Donald Tiripano, 10 Carl Mumba, 11 Chris Mpofu
Liam Brickhill is ESPNcricinfo’s South Africa correspondent
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo